Consistent Approximation for the Strain Energy of A 3d Elastic Body Adequate for the Stress Stiffening Effect

Starting from the fully geometrically nonlinear deformation model of a 3D elastic body, a consistent approximation for the strain energy in the vicinity of a pre-deformed state is obtained. This allows for the stress (geometric) stiffening effect to be taken into account. Additional terms arise in the strain energy approximation in comparison to the conventional approach, in which stiffening is incorporated in the form of a so-called geometric stiffness matrix. Computational costs of the new model are of the same order as that of the conventional approach. When compared to the fully geometrically nonlinear theory, the numerical analysis shows the suggested model to describe the dynamics of an elastic rotating structure better than the conventional approach. A new strategy is suggested to treat the non-constant pre-deformation, which is important for the flexible multibody simulations when angular velocities and interaction forces vary in time.